I awakened with a start at the first chug of the engine. My legs fired to life with a blast of agony, and I rubbed them, hard, and tried to bring myself into focus again in the situation. We slowed down.

The Volkswagen chugged again, stalled, then started, as Winnie cussed it and ground the gears, popped the clutch, and finally coasted off to the side of the road. The lights dimmed as she ground the starter, until there was just a terrible clicking as the battery died.

She punched the light button in with a slap of her hand and a curse, and we sat in the darkness, in the quiet, for a long moment.

Finally a long sigh escaped her lips and she yanked on the door handle, threw the door open, jumped out, and slammed it so hard my ears popped. I saw her stomp up and down the shoulder of the road behind the car, her coat flapping around her legs in the backwash of the cars that whizzed past without slowing down. I huddled down into my coat, feeling the slight rocking of the Volkswagen with each passing car. I tried to think, to figure what to do. I had no knowledge of cars; I could do nothing to help this situation.

I could only begin a new situation.

The cold was beginning to seep in, riding the darkness, riding the wind.

Winnie got back in the car, bringing with her a rush of frozen darkness, popping my ears once again as she slammed us all inside together.

“Fuck,” she said.

“What is it?”

“How the hell do I know? Do I look like a mechanic to you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, we’re all sorry here. But what do we do now, shoot ourselves?”

“I’ve got to get—”

“To Red Creek. Yeah, I know. And I’ve got to get to Carlsbad. Any great ideas?” She turned and looked at me, her shiny eye shadow glowing in the harsh illumination of the oncoming traffic. Her lined face was thickly made up, cracking around the edges, her crooked teeth suddenly menacing behind the curve of her snarling orange-colored lips.

I shook my head, my eyes unable to meet hers. They fell, instead, on the lovely expanse of her neck, softly wrinkled, powdered. I saw a faint thrumming under the skin as her heart beat in agitated double time, and it brought such feelings up from the depths . . .

She pulled back from me and flipped up the collar on her coat, bringing me harshly back to the present. I noticed with embarrassment that saliva had slipped out the corners of my mouth. I swiped it with my coat sleeve, but the damage had been done.

Winnie’s eyes were round and wide, her orange lips stretched over her teeth as she clutched the door handle in fear.